


The Power Of Love

by Mad_Mage



Series: Sing Me to Sleep [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Emotional Hurt, Established Relationship, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Non-Graphic Violence, Romance, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 13:25:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13705380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mad_Mage/pseuds/Mad_Mage
Summary: Our heroes act out “The Power of Love” (originally from Frankie Goes to Hollywood), Rey learns what love is the hard way, Luke is Luke and Kylo is just dropping by unexpectedly.





	The Power Of Love

**Author's Note:**

> I sincerely recommend having some tissues at hand and listening to Gabrielle Aplin’s version of the song (it inspired Rey’s POV).

Rey felt happy. A soft breeze drifted through the open windows as they dozed in the sunlight, lazy and sated, with the smell of the sea in the air and humming of bees in the rose-bushes outside Luke’s cottage.

“I’m so in love with you,” he murmured softly, and Rey opened her eyes to smile at him; her sleepy, cuddly lion. In the afternoon sunshine, his hair and beard shined like molten gold with streaks of silver, and his eyes were bluer than clear skies, sparkling with the depth of the emotion he felt for her. Sometimes, Rey’s heart still skipped a beat when he looked at her like that, and she had to remind herself to breathe. It was so easy to get lost in those eyes as the rest of the world just fell away.

“Are you?” She edged closer, her head on his shoulder, to play with the soft hair on his chest. They were hot and sticky but too comfortable to do anything about it. “How much?”

“Well.” He thought for a moment, gently tracing the swell of Rey’s breast with the tips of his fingers. She rested her head over Luke’s heart to listen to its pulse, and she felt more than heard as he rumbled, “Pancakes for late lunch. That much.”

“Blueberry pancakes?” She rose on her elbow to look at him. Luke’s eyes had closed, and he was smiling; the picture of contentment.

“If that’s what you wish, sweetheart.”

“Now?” Rey asked, and for some reason, the thought made her heartbeat quicken in panic. She couldn’t tell why but she knew she didn’t want to get up from the bed and his warm embrace, leave the afternoon full of sunlight and lovemaking behind, didn’t want it to become just a memory.

One of his eyes opened languidly and then closed again. “Do you want to wake up now?”

“No…” Rey woke up with the whisper echoing brokenly in the darkness of their bedroom. Space next to her was empty, and tears gathered in her eyes as the last fleeting touches of Luke’s ghost fingers tingled on her skin.

He wasn’t there. Putting her palm in front of her mouth to stifle the sob, Rey closed her eyes and just breathed through her nose. The dream had been so real; the calluses of his hands from the long years of handling a firearm, the scratchiness of his short beard, the tickle of his breath against her sweaty, overheated flesh.

Dreams were like angels, keeping all bad things at bay. They gave Rey the strength she needed to face another and another _and_ another bleak day in a world where all the color had died.

– _the color of his blood is red, so red, as it’s draining down the sewers with the rainwater_ –

She shuddered and rose from the bed, pushing the memory away forcefully. A quick glance at the alarm clock let her know it was almost time to get up. She marched to the bathroom and flinched when she flicked the lights on and saw her reflection in the mirror.

A corpse looked more alive than her. Rey’s deepest, most painful regret was never saying it back. She had thought it, felt it, lived it, but never ever had she said it. _I’m in love with you. I love you. You’re my everything._

Splashing cold water on her face, Rey tried not to think about it, tried to remember that she _did_ , she loved him and Luke had always known – and that was all that mattered. Love was the light that scared the darkness away, wasn’t it?

“Those who loved us never leave us,” she sighed, remembering hearing it somewhere. The memory would stay ingrained in her brain, and the feeling would remain – perhaps a faint echo of its vivacity but still. Years from now, a pair of blue eyes would bring a smile upon her face. This was temporary, it would go away, no pain lasted forever. Right? She had to hope.

Rey dressed and tried to force down a bowl of cereals and a cup of tea without much success. Then she grabbed her pepper spray and keys from the apartment and hit the sidewalk.

It was still dark outside, not even the early morning grayness making an appearance. She shivered in the cold air which smelled of promises of coming snow.

It had been a dark night; with a storm raging, the whole city had been without power. Luke had come to pick her up from work. Rey had found him waiting for her next to the elevators with his hands in his pockets.

“Luke? What are you doing here? I thought I’d see you at home.”

His eyes had lit up when he had seen her; the sparkles in them were Rey’s favorite sight in the whole world.

“I can’t let you wander the streets alone with the subway closed down. Have you seen what it looks like outside? It’s pure chaos.” He had grinned. “Also, they did promise us snow, but it looks like rain, so I brought an umbrella. And holy water. You never know when you’ll need a bit of divine intervention.”

“You’ll protect me from vampires? That’s sweet. Let me just grab my coat, and we can go.”

– _footsteps from behind, loud stomping of heavy boots, ragged breath_ –

Rey turned to watch the empty street. There was no one yet she was unable to get the feeling of being followed out of her mind. Clutching the pepper spray firmly inside of her pocket, she continued to her destination.

– _Luke’s hand holding hers, his reassuring smile saying ‘it’s going to be fine, don’t worry, sweetheart’_ –

She stopped as the skies opened and small cold raindrops started to fall down, mixed with tiny white snowflakes. Her eyes closed tightly, she fought to end the memory. There was not enough air in her lungs, and Rey couldn’t breathe.

– _a tall shadow passing them, swerving into their path, stopping them abruptly; the dirty hoodie, the dark hair, hands jammed deep in the pockets of his torn jeans_ –

“Benny?” Luke had been so shocked to recognize his nephew in the gaunt, pale face of the man who had intercepted them. “Benny! My God, is that you?”

“Uncle, don’t call me that! You got any coins to spare?” he had asked, and his voice had sounded so wrong, hoarse and weak and desperate, his hands still in those damned pockets. “People like you always do. You get everything. Nice apartments, nice cars, good jobs, you always get the girl…”

– _hungry_ _black eyes on her, envious black soul staring from their depths, making Rey feel like a piece of meat being observed by a starving beast_ –

“Benny, I’ll gladly do anything for you, but I won’t give you money for another fix. Not a cent. Come, let me take you home, get you something to eat, and we can call your mother…” Luke had moved forward slightly, making sure he had had some space around himself, raising his hands in a placating gesture towards the young man.

“No! I don’t give a fuck about that crazy old witch! I just need some money! Won’t you give me anything? You’ll let me die? Die?!”

“I won’t let you die, I’m trying to help you,” Luke’s voice had been calm, soothing.

“And you, pretty girl? You’ll let me die?” The man who had been Ben Solo once had turned to Rey, taking a step in her direction. She had flinched, and her eyes had strayed to Luke.

“Hey! I’m asking you a question, you little whore! Look at me! Does he pay you for sex? Is it worth the trouble? You sure have to have loads of cash, then, huh? Enough to spare, eh?”

“Don’t speak to her like that.” The voice Luke had used then had been different; soft and cold and sharp. He moved in front of Rey, blocking her from his nephew’s view as Rey had taken two small steps away from the pair. “Your eyes on me, boy, we are having a conversation. I’m the one with the money.”

The boy’s attention had snapped back to Luke even though his eyes had flickered to Rey several times over the shorter man’s shoulder. “You give me some, then?”

“I won’t, Ben.”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!”

Rey crouched down right where she was on the sidewalk, her back to the building, and tried to take large gulps of air, to fight back the panic, the shock, the fear. In her mind, she pictured the dream from the morning, the warm fuzzy feelings of it, the happiness she had felt with Luke’s arms around her.

The power of her love for him still amazed her. It was staggering, so unexpected. It wasn’t just a fleeting feeling of affection, lust, or attraction; it was a force from above. Being in love with him was the most peculiar emotion she had ever experienced. It was Heaven and Hell and Purgatory all in one.

When Rey was sure that the panic attack had passed, she dried her face, blew her nose and continued on her way. A new day was born slowly, so very slowly, as the grey light of the morning spilled around her into the streets and people appeared.

She was strong, always had been, and she would get through this.

Rey’s destination was the Central Naboo Hospital. She greeted the nurse at the desk with a small, sad smile, bought coffee in a cheap plastic cup from the cafeteria and made her way upstairs to the room 203.

Before Rey entered, she had to take a deep breath and dabbed at her eyes with the hanky again. Putting a brave face on, she turned the handle and slipped into the room. There was only one patient, and when Rey’s gaze landed on his motionless form, she felt the mask on her face crack like delicate glass.

It was her greatest strength, she supposed, and her worst weakness. The love rushing inside of her at the sight of him was like an energy that kept her alive, cleaning her soul, purging it of any other emotion until Rey was filled with that one single feeling, until _she_ consisted of only her love for him. It felt like fire, burning her alive, drowning every fiber of her being in pure and undiluted agony.

The paleness of Luke’s skin contrasted sharply with the ugly blue and purple bruising from a broken nose around his eyes and on the side of his face and temple, and the black stitched up a gash on his brow. The stillness of his body was so unnatural; his impassive face gave the impression of eternal sleep. The knife wound hidden under the blankets was healing as could be expected from a punctured lung but the head trauma and subsequent brain swelling had caused him to slip into a coma. There wasn’t any guarantee he would wake up or if he would be himself if he did.

Forcing down the bile in her throat, Rey sat down in her chair. Putting the untouched coffee away, she gently reached for his cold hand and closed her eyes in silent prayer. She couldn’t imagine not being here every day, visiting every morning before and every evening after work even with the chips down. She would make, _they_ would make together. This Hell wouldn’t last forever.

The brawl had been quick, lasting only a few seconds, just a short exchange of punches. Luke had blocked the first one and had shoved the boy away seemingly effortlessly. Ben had had the advantage of youth and his physique, but Luke had had years of training and experience on him. He had easily avoided his nephew’s blows and hadn’t delivered any of his own, unwilling to harm the young man. Instead, he managed to wrap his arm around Ben’s neck in a stranglehold, forcing him to stop his attack. “We don’t have to do this, Ben.”

– _madness;_ _a flash of steel, a hidden knife, a soft grunt of surprise and pain and a long, terrified scream in the darkness of the night_ –

The hooded monster had sprung to his feet and had run off without a backward glance, leaving the short curved claw-like blade behind. Rey had screamed and rushed to her lover just as Luke had toppled forward on the sidewalk, hitting the curb with his head. He had been unconscious when she had turned him, calling the ambulance with one hand pressed against the hole in his chest.

She hated this undying death that had crept between them, destroying everything, defying their love for each other. Rey could still picture the red staining her hands and fingers, and how cold the rain that had poured down on them had felt as she had been waiting for the ambulance while he had been drowning in his own blood. She leaned her forehead against Luke’s arm and swallowed, gathering her thoughts.

“Hey, honey. I know you’re in a better place. Sparkling light, flowers and pearls and pretty girls all around you, perhaps? I don’t know, someplace nice and warm where it doesn’t hurt you to breathe,” Rey’s voice trembled as she remembered the dream, Luke’s escape cottage at the seashore and the summer weekends they had spent there. Love had been a pleasure; a bright, pure, intense, beautiful thing between them – not this dangerous, jagged, sharp something she felt which cut her heart into pieces.

Still, it was her only treasure, the only untainted and good thing in her life, giving her hope which was like a dove with a broken wing fighting, scraping, to reach the skies. The power of love, the force from above, gift from the gods themselves – nothing could break her that easily, nothing could lift her up so high to touch the stars. Nothing else was worth dying for and living for.

“I think what we had… It was _sublime_ , the way we fitted together, like pieces of the same puzzle, entwined by some… I don’t know… by some divine force. That’s what love is, I’m starting to understand; something stronger than any law a man can come up with, stronger than gravity. It _is_ the gravity – pulling me toward you no matter what stands between us.” Rey choked back another cry and let her tears fall freely. “I’m so in love with you, Luke. I’m so, so in love with you. Wake up, please. Don’t let me face another day alone. Please. I’ll protect you from the hooded claw and… keep the vampires from your door… just… Come on, honey, make love your goal and wake up.”

“I do the protecting part here; it’s in the job description of my boyfriend contract.” Trembling fingers brushed her hair, a cold palm heavily landing on the back of Rey’s bowed head. Her heart stopped when she felt its weight, and she sobbed in relief and joy, a chuckle or two escaping in between as her soul flew toward the sun at light speed. The voice – weak, hoarse from disuse, so frail, was undoubtedly _his_.

“Shh, don’t cry,” Luke said as Rey raised her head to look at him, to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating and this was really happening. He smiled at her tiredly, only one blue eye staring at her from the mass of bruises on his face. The other was too swollen to open.

She had never seen a sight more beautiful, and the tongues of fire inside burned on, no longer scorching the pieces of her shattered self but bright, warm flames keeping the coldness of a broken heart away.

**Author's Note:**

> Well. Regnumveritatis asked me to consider using Celine Dion’s song of the same name for my next songfic. As I went to listen to it on youtube, I come across this one instead. I didn’t sleep the whole night to finish the story, and when I edited it this afternoon, I started to have some doubts and almost decided not to post it at all. What do you think? Also, I’m having troubles with the next chapter of “Like an Ocean,” – my inner Sith is trying to talk into the writing process – so it will be up probably sometime during the next week. Hope you enjoyed reading this fic and stay tuned for more :)


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